Long before running Yellowstone ranch in Taylor Sheridan’s new “Yellowstone” spinoff series “1923,” Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren first played husband and wife in the 1986 Peter Weir film “The Mosquito Coast.” “When we first worked together, he was a huge movie star and I was like nobody,” Mirren told Variety with a laugh at
Period thriller “The Night Owl” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office for a second weekend. It delivered a strong week-to-week performance that saw off competition from a volley of new release titles and lifted the overall market. The locally-made “Owl” earned $4.35 million between Friday and Sunday, only an 11%
Bob McGrath, an actor and recording artist who became a generational icon as one of the original human stars of “Sesame Street,” died Sunday at his home in New Jersey. He was 90. McGrath’s death was confirmed by his family members through a post on his Facebook page: “The McGrath family has some sad news
Charlotte Wells’ directorial feature debut, “Aftersun,” took home the most awards of any nominated film at the 25th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), nabbing seven victories out of 16 nominations. The film spans a 20-year period, beginning with 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a father-daughter vacation to Turkey and culminating with her reflection on
During the Torino Film Festival, the Circolo dei Lettori hosted an event during which Alpi Film Lab handed out the Scarabeo Post-Production Award, followed by a panel discussion on the first results achieved by the program. TFL’s program coordinator, Angelica Cantisani, and Alessandra Stefani, of Scarabeo Entertainment, invited on stage director Sophie Beaulieu and producer
“Emancipation” producer Joey McFarland has apologized after facing criticism for bringing a photograph of the enslaved man known as “Whipped Peter,” which served as an inspiration for the film, to the Los Angeles premiere. “I wholeheartedly apologize to everyone I have offended by bringing a photograph of Peter to the ‘Emancipation’ premiere,” McFarland wrote in
This year’s Oscar-worthy music is the most interesting mix in years. Veterans continue to supply well-crafted, traditional orchestral scores while new voices are contributing surprising sounds for daring filmmakers seeking something fresh. Let’s start with the most familiar duo: John Williams and Steven Spielberg. Seventeen of their 29 films together have been nominated for Oscars,
Morton Zarcoff, a producer on the 1968 crime series “It Takes a Thief” and former co-chairman of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Film & Television department, died Dec. 1 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a brief illness. He was 95. Zarcoff’s death was confirmed by his son, Larry Zarcoff. Zarcoff was
It’s all about the nose. That is the secret to singing classic country music, or at least getting to the heart of the style of singing brought back to life in “George & Tammy,” according to the actors who inhabit the title roles, Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. Variety caught up with the actors as
Al Strobel, an actor who was best known for his role as Phillip Gerard, the one-armed man on “Twin Peaks,” died Friday in Eugene, Ore. He was 83. “Twin Peaks” producer and frequent David Lynch collaborator Sabrina Sutherland released a statement on behalf of his family: “Through the darkness of future past and much sadness
“Enemy,” the 2021 collaborative track from Imagine Dragons and rapper JID, blasted through the City Market Social House when group frontman Dan Reynolds boogied his way up onto the stage at Variety’s Hitmakers Brunch on Saturday. With chorus lyrics like “Spare the sympathy / Everybody wants to be my enemy / (Look out for yourself),”
The second season of HBO’s”The White Lotus” is well underway, featuring lush imagery of Sicily and, to some viewers’ shock, an extra view of cast member Theo James. During the first episode of the second season, James’ character, Cameron Babcock, is seen grabbing a swimsuit from Harper Spiller’s (Aubrey Plaza) hotel room. As she searches
Of all the life-changing cinema that premiered in the 1980s, Jonathan Kasdan singles out “Willow” as the first film to “mark time” in his existence. “It just had this psychological significance to me in my development,” Kasdan explains to Variety. “You’d be shocked at how many people say, ‘Oh, I saw that movie, it scared
The Weeknd has teased new music tied to the soundtrack for James Cameron’s much-anticipated sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water.” On Sunday morning, the Canadian singer uploaded a short clip displaying the film’s logo and Dec. 16 release date. In the background, a choir can be heard, supported by a booming drum beat — reminiscent
During the Torino Film Festival, the Circolo dei Lettori hosted a panel discussion on the future of arthouse cinema, moderated by Torino Film Lab’s head of studies, Francesco Giai Via. The event saw the participation of Israeli producer and TFL mentor Eilon Ratzkovsky (“7 Days in Entebbe”), and Andrea Romeo, CEO of Bologna-based production and
Italy’s National Film Museum has revealed ambitious restyling and renovation plans set to change the future of the museum. The revamp will focus on two main areas: the renewal of the facilities and a partial reshaping of the visitors’ experience. The plan’s estimated costs are in the region of €30 million-€35 million ($31 million-$36 million).
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” sleighed the muted competition, including Universal’s new holiday thriller “Violent Night,” to remain No. 1 at the box office. Now in its fourth weekend of release, the superhero sequel added $17.6 million from 3,855 theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $393.7 million. It’ll soon be only the third movie this year
Orlando Zurro, played by Michele Placido, has never left his Italian mountain village. At 75, he runs his little farm alone. His wife died a long time ago, and their only child, Valerio, dreaming of other ways of living, emigrated to Belgium at 20. Since then, father and son have not spoken to each other.
Spike Lee attended the first-ever public screening in Saudi Arabia of “Malcolm X” on Saturday during the Red Sea Film Festival. The film shot key scenes in Mecca, over 30 years ago, but has never been screened in the kingdom, due to the 35-year ban on cinemas that only ended in December 2017. On Sunday,
Omar Apollo never has a problem telling his truths. The queer singer recently became a standout on Twitter when one user questioned if he was actually a straight guy queer-baiting the LGBTQ community by wearing nail polish and cropped shirts. Apollo clapped back with two very explicit replies about what he does in bed with
Neom, the Saudi Arabian region that is aiming to become a major film and TV production hub, has lured its first Bollywood shoot “Dunki,” starring Shah Rukh Khan, and booked 200-episode-a-year Saudi soap opera “Exceptional,” produced by MBC, that will be keeping one of its new sound stages busy for a long stretch. “Dunki,” which
Southern Californian director Jamie Dack’s coming-of-age drama “Palm Trees and Power Lines” was crowned best film as the 40th edition of the Torino Film Festival wrapped Saturday. The award is worth €18,000 ($18,967). Dack, winner of the Sundance Film Festival directing award in the U.S. Dramatic section, also received Torino’s prize for best script, shared
In her speech at the Dec. 2 inauguration of the Panama Int’l Film Festival (IFF Panama), Panama’s Minister of Culture, Giselle Gonzalez, revealed that the country would likely have a major studio facility in the future and pledged more support for the festival, which has suffered major pandemic-induced budget cutbacks. In an exclusive interview with Variety in
Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” has won Best Asian Film, the top prize at the Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards, continuing its award-winning spree. The film made a winning debut at Venice earlier this year and went on to win prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Golden Horse, Marrakech, QCity, Jogja-NETPAC, Stockholm and Tokyo
“When you start looking in the darkness, you’ll see something. That’s the idea I wanted to depict and convey,” Kogahara Takeshi told Variety, after the screening of his debut “Nagisa,” a movie where darkness and silences play a crucial role. The plot follows a young man (played by Yuzu Aoki) who suffers from guilt related
Nickelodeon stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunited on “Saturday Night Live” for a fond reboot of their popular ’90s show. In a mock documentary, host Keke Palmer’s pregnancy once again came into play as her character claimed she pitched a more dramatic reboot of “Kenan and Kel”—dubbed “Kenan and Kelly,” set at Rigby’s. Palmer’s
“Saturday Night Live” returned after the holiday break with host Keke Palmer making a big announcement: She is having a baby! “People have been in my comments, saying, ‘Keke’s having a baby,’ ‘Keke’s pregnant,’ and I want to set the record straight,” Palmer said in her opening monologue. “I am!” Palmer revealed the huge news
The New York local of IATSE has elected William “Dusty” Klatt as its new president, in the first change of leadership in the union since 2004. Klatt, a retired electrician, defeated Mandie DeMeskey, the local’s business representative, by a tally of 1,591 to 570 votes. DeMeskey is married to Matthew Loeb, the president of the
Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Jack Harlow and more of music’s brightest stars celebrated the year’s best songs and the industry’s top execs, artists and creatives at Variety‘s Hitmakers brunch, held at City Market Social House in Downtown Los Angeles. Gomez, who was honored with the Hitmakers Film Song of the Year award for “My Mind
Lara Trump, a vociferous supporter of her father-in-law and his policies when he campaigned for re-election to the White House in 2020, is parting ways as an official contributor to Fox News Channel. The Fox Corp.-backed network confirmed Saturday that Trump, wife to President Donald Trump’s younger son, Eric, was no longer an official contributor